The present invention relates to an electrostatic recording apparatus used for an image forming apparatus, a printer and so on.
Conventionally, as an electric recording apparatus for forming an electrostatic image on an electric charge carrying member, a photosensitive member as shown in FIG. 14 is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 1-293358. The photosensitive member 101 is constructed by laminating a photoconductive layer support member 103, a photosensitive member electrode 104 and a photoconductive layer 105 in this order. On the other hand, the electric charge carrying member 102 has a rotatable cylindrical configuration and is constructed by laminating an insulating layer support member 106, an electric charge carrying member electrode 107 and an insulating layer 108 in this order. The photosensitive member 101 and the electric charge carrying member 102 are arranged so that the photoconductive layer 105 and the insulating layer 108 face each other via an air gap.
By applying a voltage between the photosensitive member electrode 104 and the electric charge carrying member electrode 107 and performing scanning in the axial direction (main scanning direction) of the electric charge carrying member 102 with light incident on the photosensitive member 101 in a dark place, a portion of the photoconductive layer 105 exposed to the light becomes conductive. Thus, an electric discharge is generated between the exposed portion and the insulating layer 108 of the electric charge carrying member 102, so that electric charges are accumulated in the insulating layer 108 of the electric charge carrying member 102 to form an electrostatic latent image. The formed electrostatic latent image is moved in a direction indicated by an arrow "b" in FIG. 14 to be developed into a toner image by a developing unit 109. The toner image is transferred onto a paper or a film by a transfer charger 110.
However, when forming an image with the aforementioned apparatus as shown in FIG. 14, there is a possibility that a dot-like image is formed, or that a rear end portion of the image is elongated, which makes it difficult to obtain a stable image. This is considered to be caused by the reason that a fast and stable electric discharge does not occur, or that an electric discharge is intermittently carried out or continuously carried out after completion of exposure.